Page 37 of Zodiac Monsters

Chapter 14

“This is one of my favorite restaurants,” Adrian said. “It has a lovely view of the sunset over the mountains, and the food is second to none.”

I stared out the window, fidgeting in my seat and twiddling my thumbs. He was dressed as nice as I was, wearing a black, tailored sport coat and suit pants, with a mint colored shirt that brought out the turquois in his eyes. He was impossibly handsome while being a perfect gentleman, and this wasn’t going to help me mitigate my already questionable crush on him.

I didn’t make eye contact. This whole thing felt wrong. Professor Karras didn’t even like me, let alone want to spend time with me. He’d told me as much, over and over again. What was I supposed to do here? Get to know him? All we ever really talked about was the mess we were in, and I didn’t know enough about him to even open the floor for casual conversation.

I felt like an idiot for dressing up so much.

When we arrived, Adrian parked right by the entrance, and the valet opened our doors and took the keys. The fanciest place I’d ever had dinner was a basic local diner, and the glitz and glam of this already had me on edge in spite of the circumstances. My parents weren’t flashy people. I wouldn’t have expected Adrian to be either, honestly. But then, I gathered from Marcus that immortal, powerful, paranormal beasts probably didn’t have money problems like the rest of us.

I clasped my hands in front of me, and we entered the restaurant together. He showed me none of the intimacy that Marcus showed me, but he shouldn’t have, since this was a professional chat with a teacher.

The inside dining area seemed notably empty when we arrived, but it was still early, so I suspected it would start to fill up soon. Adrian had reservations regardless, so the hostess led us to a table on the edge of an empty balcony. She nodded to the professor, then left us alone with the menu.

The view was as incredible as he implied, but the open air design made me nervous for the soon to be setting sun.

“What if someone from school sees us here together? Regardless of what we’re calling it, I don’t see how this could be construed as anything other than a date by a random onlooker.” I said, adjusting in my dress so the skirt didn’t ride up too high while I was seated. Skirts like this loved to bunch up around my thighs and get swallowed by my pelvis if I didn’t wriggle them into place.

“That won’t be an issue. I’ve reserved the entire balcony area.” His expression was soft, while his tone implied that was somehow no big deal.

“You can do that on a teacher’s salary?” I teased, because those small moments of sarcasm really helped calm me down and make this feel less nerve wracking.

“I’m the head of the entire engineering department in a school where some of my students are literal demons from hell. I can afford a lot of things on a teacher’s salary.” He raised a brow at the question. “But I’m not trying to impress you. I wanted this to be private but with witnesses, so you could enjoy the food in a public enough setting. You would have been much more on edge if I invited you to my home.”

I wanted to respond, but the waitress returned to ask for our drink order before I could come up with something clever.

“I’ll have an old fashioned.” He said, as though he’d done it a thousand times before. He glanced over at me. “You’re old enough to drink, right? Would you like anything, Lila?”

Obnoxious. I pursed my lips at what felt like a low key dig to emphasize how much younger than him I was. He knew I was old enough.

“I would.” I responded petulantly, taking his prodding like a challenge. I turned to the waitress and started out confidently with “I’ll have the…” and I faded out in embarrassment when I realized I didn’t know the name of any drinks. Certainly not anything that they’d serve at this place. I blanked on even the simple, normal, generic drinks, not remembering remotely what mixers were supposed to go with what alcohol. What did people mix vodka with again? Was orange soda with liquor a thing?

Yeah, a thing for children who eat gummy bears with their dinner. Think fast. Think fast—“I’ll have vodka with tea.” I announced in a last ditch effort to not sound like a kid. Tea was sophisticated, so putting vodka in it was obviously what sophisticated grown ass women did.

I cleared my throat and nodded, pleased with my improv skills.

The waitress didn’t question it, so I felt pretty comfortable that I’d guessed right.

Adrian waited until she was fully out of ear shot before he let himself chuckle. “I’ve never seen that combination before.”

“Me either.” I admitted before I could catch myself. “I mean, I…” I shrank into myself, defeated. “Sorry, I really don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not used to ordering drinks or elegant dinners or restaurants with tablecloths.” I motioned to encompass the whole balcony. I glanced up at the sky next, where the moon would soon be rising. “I have a lot of reasons to be nervous and uncomfortable right now.”

“Fair enough.” Adrian conceded. “Take a deep breath, and I’ll handle the order. I wasn’t inviting you to embarrass you, I promise.” The orange glow of the setting sun cast over our glasses as the waitress set down our drinks. Adrian ordered food for both of us, while I remained fixated on the fading glow of residual light.

“So why did you invite me here? I still don’t understand.” The tension was palpable, and for once, it wasn’t the sexual kind. In the classroom, every stolen glance made my heart skip a beat, but this felt so different. There, I had reason to be there, and I was forced to interact with him, making every day a mix of fear, excitement, and defiance. Here we were somewhere we’d both come of our own will, and we were together by choice. Astrology Club was obligation. This was expectation.

I should have been happy about it—the fact that he was giving me the chance to get to know him and expressing a desire to get to know me—but instead I was too out of sorts to function. It was almost comical that this felt wrong, while stolen glances in a crowded school felt like ordinary day-to-day.

Before he answered, he lifted his glass, and I fumbled to do the same, sloshing some of the tea and vodka concoction onto my hand as I clinked his cup in cheers. I didn’t even know why we were celebrating. I just followed along like a lost puppy.

Like a mutable Virgo following my Cardinal Capricorn.

“Cheers.” He said with a soft smile that didn’t suit his harsh features. “Take a drink, relax, and I’ll explain.”

I nervously sucked down my drink, hoping I might be less tense if I was a little buzzed first. Truth be told, the tea flavor cancelled out the vodka, and I didn’t even mind it. I couldn’t say if the drink was strong and well hidden, or if alcohol wasn’t as harsh as I expected. I’d celebrated my twenty-first birthday alone at work, and my mom let me try her wine when I got home. My childish taste buds found the flavor of wine so unpleasant that it was my first and last experience with drinking.

“So what’s your trigger this month?” I asked as the lights around the balcony came on. The remaining sunlight was still glowing behind the distant mountains, but darkness was creeping in quickly. “I’m guessing you’re not worried about hitting it if we’re in public together.”